UNDER 

THE  SOUTHERN 
CROSS 


A Sketch  of  Our  Work  in  Brazil 


DEPARTMENT  OF  MISSIONS 
of  the  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

281  FOURTH  AVENUE  - NEW  YORK  CITY 


^IlllllllillllllllllllillUlllllllllllllllliilllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllillllllllllllllllllJllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllin^ 


Under  the  Southern 
Cross 

's;‘« 

The  Church’s  Mission  to  Brazil 

The  republic  of  Brazil  is  larger  than  the  whole  of 
the  United  States  with  the  addition  of  another 
Texas!  No  brief  statement  could  adequately  de- 
scribe the  character  of  the  entire 
THE  LAND  country,  extending  as  it  does  from 
about  five  degrees  north  latitude  to 
thirty-two  degrees  south  latitude.  In  general,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  said  of  the  southern  part  of  the  re- 
public (and  even  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  well  to  the  south) 
that  the  country  is  largely  composed  of  great  grassy 
plains  rising  to  lofty  table  lands.  The  people  are 
largely  descendants  of  the  original  Spanish  and  Port- 
uguese settlers,  reinforced  by  immigration  from  Eur- 
ope. Portuguese  is  the  language  of  the  country. 

The  state  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  where  most  of 
our  work  is  concentrated  at  the  present  time,  is 
larger  than  the  state  of  New  York.  Immediately 
south  of  it  lies  Uruguay;  immediately  west,  the  Ar- 
gentine Republic.  It  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  South 
Africa  and  South  Australia.  The  government  has 
just  spent  $35,000,000  on  the  harbor  of  Rio  Grande. 
It  has  a population  of  800,000  and  a climate  similar 
to  that  of  our  own  Gulf  States,  though,  of  course, 
the  seasons  are  reversed  our  winter  being  their  sum- 
mer. 


3 


In  the  autumn  of  1889,  two  graduates  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Theological  Seminary  were  sent  out  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Church  Missionary  Society 
to  Southern  Brazil.  They 
THE  BEGINNING  were  the  Reverend  Lucien 
OF  THE  MISSION  Lee  Kinsolving  and  the  Rev- 
erend James  W.  Morris.  At 
that  time  little  interest  was  felt  in  Latin  America, 
and  these  young  men  were  regarded  as  entering  upon 
a desperate  and  rather  quixotic  undertaking. 

Within  two  months  after  their  arrival  the  re- 
public of  Brazil  was  declared,  the  whole  civil  fabric 
reorganized,  all  religious  disabilities  removed,  the 
Church  separated  from  the  state,  and  complete  lib- 
erty of  worship  guaranteed. 

The  missionaries  began  their  work  in  the  city  of 
Porto  Alegre,  the  capital  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  the 
most  southern  state  in  the  republic.  They  found  the 
people  ready  to  listen  to  their  message  because  of 
a spirit  of  religious  inquiry  and  interest  in  the  air. 

In  1891  the  force  was  appreciably  streng'thened 
by  the  arrival  of  the  Reverend  William  Cabell  Brown, 
now  Bishop  of  Virginia,  and  the  Reverend  John  G. 
Meem,  and  by  1898  the  three  principal  cities  of  this 
state — Rio  Grande,  the  seaport,  a town  of  20,000, 
Pelotas,  about  forty  miles  distant,  with  40,000  peo- 
ple, and  Porto  Alegre,  having  75,000  inhabitants — 
were  vigorously  occupied. 

In  1898  Bishop  Peterkin,  of  West  Virginia,  at  the 
request  of  the  presiding  bishop  of  the  Church,  made 

an  episcopal  visitation  to 
FIRST  EPISCOPAL  the  field.  He  ordained  four 
VISITATION  deacons,  confirmed  140  per- 

sons, and  gave  the  whole 
work  a regular  organization.  It  is,  indeed,  from 
this  year  that  the  Brazilian  mission,  as  an  organ- 


5 


ized  body,  should  be  dated.  A few  years  later,  at 
the  request  of  our  presiding  bishop,  the  Anglican 
bishop  of  the  Falkland  Islands,  Dr.  Stirling,  officially 
visited  the  mission,  advanced  to  the  priesthood  the 
deacons  ordained  by  Bishop  Peterkin  and  also  con- 
firmed many  candidates.  This  united  the  mother 
and  daughter  Churches  in  Brazil.  In  1905,  at  the 
request  of  the  American  Church  Missionary  Society, 
the  Board  of  Missions  took  over  the  work  which  the 
auxiliary  society  had  supported  so  faithfully  for 
sixteen  years.  It  was  not  at  this  time  on  the  same 
footing  as  the  other  missions  undertaken  by  the 
Board,  but  was  an  independent  national  Church,  and 
for  several  years  was  under  its  own  independent 
bishop,  Lucien  Lee  Kinsolving. 

In  1907,  the  council  of  the  Brazilian  Church  de- 
cided to  ask  the  Church  in  the  United  States  to  ac- 
cept the  work  in  Brazil  as  one  of  its  missions.  The 
General  Convention  of  October, 
BISHOP  1907,  meeting  in  Richmond,  Vir- 

KINSOLVING  ginia — after  careful  deliberation — 
very  wisely  agreed  to  do  this ; 
Bishop  Kinsolving  therefore  resigned  as  a bishop  of 
the  Church  in  Brazil,  after  more  than  eight  years 
of  service,  and  was  elected  by  the  same  Conven- 
tion as  the  first  Missionary  bishop  of  Southern 
Brazil.  He  still  retains  this  title,  although  the 
whole  republic,  not  only  the  single  state  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Sul  as  formerly,  is  noAV  the  field  of  the 
American  Church. 

PHASES  OF  THE  WORK 

Experience  has  shown  that  our  Church’s  ordered 
form  of  worship  is  particularly  effective  among  the 
Brazilians.  Liturgical  services,  by  vested  clergy,  in 


6 


a well-arranged  place  of  wor- 
ship, appeal  to  their  sense  of 
propriety, 
EVANGELISTIC  and  give 
for  them 
solemnity  to  the  act  of  wor- 
ship, and  power  to  the  Word 
preached  and  expounded. 
For  a considerable  time  serv- 
ice books,  containing  Morn- 
ing and  Evening  Prayer,  with 
selection  from  other  parts  of 
the  liturgy,  tolerably  well  translated,  were,  by 
ecclesiastical  authority,  put  in  use  throughout  the 
mission.  Later,  Dr.  Brown,  assisted  by  the  young 
Brazilian  presbyter,  the  Reverend  A.  V.  Cabral, 
translated  the  whole  Book  of  Common  Prayer  into 
Portuguese. 

In  all  twelve  churches  have  been  built.  The  Church 
of  the  Crucified,  Bage,  a beautiful  Gothic  structure 
with  a seating  capacity  of  250,  was  consecrated  on 
the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  1915.  This  church  was 
built  almost  entirely  by  the  offerings  of  the  congre- 
gation, under  the  leadership  of  the  Reverend  An- 
tonio J.  L.  Guimaraes.  In  April  of  the  same  year 
the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  was  set 
apart  for  devotional  purposes,  being  impracti- 
cable to  consecrate  it  on  account  of  an  outstanding 
debt.  For  years  a church  in  this  strategic  center 
has  been  sorely  needed.  At  last,  largely  through 
local  offerings,  Rio  has  one  of  singular  taste  and 
beauty  in  a most  desirable  locality.  On  the  same  lot 
is  a building  adequate  for  all  present  parish  activi- 
ties, and  space  sufficient  for  a residence  for  the  arch- 
deacon. 

In  Meyer,  a suburb  of  Rio,  the  congregation  of 
Trinity  Church  is  growing  rapidly  in  a building 
which  is  neither  adequate  nor  appropriate.  The  peo- 


7 


CHURCH  OF  THE  REDEEMER,  RIO  BE  JANEIRO 


pie  have  paid  $5,000  for  a lot,  and  have  in  hand  a 
building  fund  of  some  $2,500.  In  1915  the  scattered 
communicants  at  Cima  da  Serra — a wide  country 
district  under  the  care  of  the  Reverend  A.  V.  Cabral 
— purchased  a building  in  Sao  Francisco  de  Paula 
and  endeavored  to  fit  it  up  in  churchly  fashion. 

In  Jaguarao  and  in  Sao  Jose  do  Norte  dwellings 
have  been  converted  into  attractive  church  buildings ; 
in  Santa  Helena  a small  country  church  has  been 
built;  in  Sao  Francisco  de  Paula  de  Cima  de  Serra 
a theatre  was  bought  by  the  congregation  and  is 
being  used  as  a church.  The  church  at  Dom  Ped- 
rito  has  also  been  built  within  the  last  few  years. 

In  Rio  de  Janeiro  there  was  initiated  in  1916  a 
wonderful  work  of  charity,  the  ‘‘Assistencia  de  Santa 
Thereza”,  by  Dr.  Francisco  de  Castro  and  his  wife. 
Dr.  Castro,  a layreader,  has  himself  contributed  over 
$11,000  to  this  work.  Help  is  given  to  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  to  orphans.  A kitchen  is  maintained,  medi- 
cines and  medical  attention  are  given,  and  a creche 


8 


INTERIOR  OF  CHURCH  OF  THE  REDEEMER,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO 


is  in  operation  for  working  mothers.  During  its  first 
year  the  “Assistencia”  clothed,  fed,  and  gave  ele- 
mentary, civic,  and  moral  instruction  to  156  chil- 
dren. A Sunday  School  is  maintained,  and  the 
Church’s  offices  have  been  performed  by  the  Rever- 
end Dr.  Meem. 

To  sum  up.  Church  life  seems  to  be  deepening  all 
along  the  line  and  producing  fruit. 

Bishop  Kinsolving  has  felt  for  some  time  that  the 
great  need  of  the  Brazil  mission  was  the  development 
of  the  educational  phase  of  the  work,  side  by  side 
with  the  evangelistic.  Little  had 
EDUCATIONAL  been  done  in  that  line  except  a 
school  for  both  sexes  known  as 
“Collegio  Kinsolving”  at  Santa  Anna  do  Livramento, 
and  a small  parochial  school  in  Sao  Gabriel,  until 
in  1912  the  diocesan  school  for  boys  at  Porto  Alegre 
(Southern  Cross  School)  was  founded  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Reverend  William  M.  M.  Thomas.  The 
modern  Brazilian  is  so  eager  for  education  for  his 
children,  and  so  appreciative  of  North  American 


9 


methods  of  teaching,  scholarship  and  discipline,  that 
the  success  of  this  school  was  a foregone  conclusion. 
With  no  adequate  equipment,  and  in  rented  houses 
with  no  facilities,  Mr.  Thomas  gathered  a fine  corps 
of  teachers  and  an  attendance  of  sixty  boys,  twenty- 
five  of  them  boarding  pupils.  With  the  aid  of  three 
scholarships  all  expenses  were  met  and  paid  by  Mr. 
Thomas,  whom  Bishop  Kinsolving  calls  “a  master  of 
economics”,  and  each  month  pupils  had  to  be  rejected 
for  lack  of  room.  So  in  the  spring  of  1915  Bishop 
Kinsolving  made  a venture  of  faith,  secured  a piece 
of  land  on  which  was  a small  house,  and  began  to 
build  a three-story  school  with  accommodations  for 
four  masters,  a matron  and  forty  boys. 

The  school  site  is  almost  ideal  in  one  of  the  most 
attractive  suburbs  of  the  city  of  Porto  Alegre,  com- 
manding a picturesque  view  of  both  city  and  lake. 
The  lot  has  a frontage  on  one  street  of  260  metres 
and  on  the  side  street  of  130,  and  is  separated  from 
adjoining  properties  by  a small  stream.  It  is  well- 
fenced  and  has  on  it  a building,  which  with  enlarge- 
ment can  be  made  into  a suitable  residence  for  the 
headmaster.  It  has  also  some  two  thousand  fruit 
trees,  chiefly  pears,  plums,  peaches  and  Japanese 
persimmons,  which,  ripening  during  the  holidays, 
yield  a profit  of  about  $1,000  a year.  There  are 
enough  oranges  and  lemons  for  the  use  of  the  school. 

The  school  year  for  1920  reported  a full  at- 
tendance of  forty  boarders  and  the  same  number  of 
day  scholars — that  is  the  school  was  full.  A staff  of 
fifteen  men,  including  student  teachers,  most  of  them 
communicants  of  the  Church,  is  giving  the  best  kind 
of  instruction,  including  moral  and  religious. 

The  establishment  of  the  Southern  Cross  School 
at  Porto  Alegre  marks  a distinct  advance  in  the  Bra- 
zil mission.  Its  influence  will  be  increasingly  felt 
as  successive  generations  of  boys  go  out  to  carry  on 
in  their  homes  the  traditions  and  teachings  of  a 


10 


CHURCH  OF  THE  SAVIOUR,  RIO  GRANDE  DO  SUL 


church  school.  Church  teaching  and  instruction 
in  the  Bible  form  a part  of  the  curriculum,  and  daily 
religious  exercises  are  held  in  the  large  schoolroom 
until  a suitable  chapel  can  be  built.  The  intellectual 
and  moral  elements  of  the  problem  have  been  success- 
fully solved ; there  remains  only  the  physical  equip- 
ment. 

THE  STAFF 

Probably  no  foreign  mission  field  has  had  so  little 
reinforcement  from  the  home  Church  as  has  Brazil. 
There  have  never  been  more  than  four  or  five  Amer- 
ican clergy  at  one  time  engaged  in  the  work;  no 
field  so  entirely  supplies  its  own  staff.  In  his  report 
for  1915-16,  Bishop  Kinsolving  says: 

“Having  had  opportunity  during  the  past  year  to 
study  rather  widely  missionary  methods,  nowhere 
have  I found  any  work  so  largely  conducted  by  na- 
tive help.  Of  our  forty  churches  and  mission  sta- 
tions, all  of  those  which  are  in  the  state  of  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul,  where  our  work  was  first  begun,  are  in  the 
care  of  national  clergy.  .... 

“Of  my  staff,  now  numbering  nineteen,  all  but  four 
are  native  clergy,  of  whose  faithfulness,  loyality  and 


11 


THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  SCHOOL,  PORTO  ALEGRE 


forbearance  I would  again  make  record  with  deep 
gratefulness.” 

In  1906  the  Bishop  closed  the  Theological  School 
which  he  had  founded  and  in  TN^hich  his  present  clergy 
were  almost  all  educated  because  as  he  put  it,  he  did 
not  want  to  supply  native  clergy  faster  than  the 
Brazilians  were  prepared  to  take  care  of  and  support 
them.  This  was  one  of  the  finest  illustrations  that 
can  be  found  of  a missionary  bishop  determining  to 
make  his  Church  independent  of  outside  aid. 

As  a result  of  this  teaching,  four  self-support- 
ing parishes  had  grown  up  in  the  last  ten  years 
it  became  evident  in  1919  that  the  time  had  come  to 
reopen  the  seminary  and  to  make  preparation  for 
supplying  the  next  generation  with  native  clergy. 
No  sooner  was  this  call  made,  than  Dr.  James  W. 
Morris,  the  same  who  had  gone  out  originally  with 
Bishop  Kinsolving  in  1889,  answered  it.  Oblivious  to 
the  fact  that  he  was  happily  and  comfortably  set- 
tled in  a large  parish  in  this  country,  he  resigned 
his  position  and  went  back  to  Brazil  in  April,  1920. 
Since  then  word  has  come  of  the  growing  interest 
of  the  Brazilians  and  of  the  immensity  of  the  need 
for  more  of  their  own  people  to  minister  to  them. 
Though  the  re-established  Theological  School  is  only 
small  as  yet,  there  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  its  future. 
A splendid  gift  just  received  has  made  possible  the 
purchase  of  a new  building.  It  is  surrounded  by 
ample  grounds  and  the  Church  in  Brazil  is  ready  to 
enter  the  second  stage  of  its  growth. 

A CLOSING  WORD 

In  closing  the  brief  statement  of  the  work  of  our 
Church  farthest  south,  we  are  impressed  by  the  fact 
that  our  people  in  Brazil  are  tremendously  in  earn- 
est. Note  the  efforts  of  the  scattered  communicants 
in,  Cima  da  Serra,  and  the  congregation  of  the  Church 


13 


of  the  Redeemer,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  who  in  their  desire 
for  a worthy  place  of  worship  gave  nearly  $300  per 
communicant  in  one  year.  Every  mission  station 
does  what  it  can  for  the  support  of  its  own  clergy- 
man. 

In  a report  made  in  Feibruary,  1921,  Bishop  Kin- 
solving says : 

“It  gives  me  pleasure  to  report  that  two  of  our 
clergy  have  during  the  past  year  graduated  from  the 
pay-roll  of  the  Council.  Wherever  a mission  thus 
relieves  the  Missionary  Council  of  a burden  by  as- 
suming that  burden  for  itself,  it  means  energizing 
self-respect,  new  power  and  expectant  constructive- 
ness. 

“It  is  a still  keener  joy  to  report  that  Trinity 
Church,  Porto  Alegre,  has  voted  to  relinquish  the 
stipend  of  the  Board  of  Missions. 

“To  the  Church  of  the  Mediator  in  Santa  Maria 
da  Bocca  do  Monte  belongs  the  imperishable  honor 
of  being  the  first  Church  of  our  Communion  under 
the  Southern  Cross  to  attain  self-support.  Trinity, 
Porto  Alegre,  has  already  confessed  the  contagion  of 
good  example.  The  Church  of  the  Saviour,  Rio 
Grande,  the  Redeemer,  Pelotas,  the  Church  of  the 
Crucified  in  Bage,  are  following  after, — having 
already  attained  about  75  per  cent  of  self-support. 
A few  years  more  each  will  be  an  independent  self- 
supporting  church,  no  longer  a burden  upon  the 
Missionary  Council.  So  we  who  cast  forth  our  seed 
with  trembling  hands  years  since  are  beginning  to 
see  the  fruition  of  harvest. 

“More  than  one  wise  and  cautious  old  Bishop 
said  when  Morris  and  I started  for  Brazil  years 
ago : ‘It  is  a most  interesting  yet  doubtful  experi- 
ment those  young  men  are  undertaking;  our  Com- 
munion has  never  yet  founded  a self-supporting  con- 
gregation in  a Latin  country.’  And  later,  some 


14 


SETTING  OUT  ON  A MTSiSIONAiRY  JOURNEY 


editor  of  a Church  paper  wrote  a circular  letter  to 
all  our  Missionary  bishops,  saying  he  could  not  find 
a single  independent,  self-supporting  congregation 
meeting  its  entire  expense  of  functioning  through- 
out the  foreign  mission  fields  of  the  Church.  Whether 
he  was  rightly  informed,  I do  not  know — I had  no 
self-supporting  churches  at  that  time,  and  so  I told 
him,  with  heavy  heart.  But  now,  tell  it  out  and 
publish  it  that  our  branch  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church  is  planted  in  the  fruitful  soil  of  Brazil,  never, 
please  God,  to  be  uprooted.” 

The  great  need  of  the  Brazil  mission  to-day,  in 
Bishop  Kinsolving’s  opinion,  is  more  schools.  A 
notable  beginning  has  been  made  without  asking  the 
Board  of  Missions  for  either  equipment  or  rent.  But 
much  more  needs  to  be  done.  The  need  for  a girls’ 
school  is  as  great  as  is  that  for  a boys’  school.  Given 
equipment,  teachers  could  easily  be  found  and  a 
great  work  undertaken.  In  Brazil  the  evangelistic 
work  has  outrun  the  educational  work.  The  time 
has  come  when  they  should  go  hand  in  hand  to  in- 
sure a healthy  growth. 


15 


THE  WORK  IN  BRAZIL 

February,  1921 

Bishop:  Right  Reverend  Lucien  Lee  Kinsolving,  S.T.D.,  L.L.D., 
Caixa  174,  Porto  Alegre,  Brazil 

Archdeacons: 

Rio  de  Janeiro:  Rev.  John  G.  Meem,  D.D. 

Porto  Alegre:  Rev.  Americo  V.  Cabral. 

Rio  Grande:  Rev.  George  Upton  Krischke. 


Bage 

Rev.  A.  J.  L.  Guimaraes 

Cima  da  Serra 

Rev.  A.  V.  Cabral 

Dom  Fedrito 

Rev.  J.  B.  Leao 

Jaguarao 

Rev.  N.  Almeida 

Iiivramento 

Rev.  C.  H.  C.  Sergei 

Meyer  (Bio  de  Janeiro) 

Rev.  F.  T.  Osborn 
Montenegro 

Rev.  A.  M.  Fraga 

Pelotas 

Rev.  Jose  S.  da  Silva 
Porto  Alegre 

Rev.  W.  M.  M.  Thomas 
Rev.  A.  V.  Cabral 
Rev.  E.  A.  Bohrer 
Rev.  G.  U.  Krischke 
Rev.  Vicente  Brande 
Rev.  J.  W.  Morris,  D.D. 


Bio  de  Janeiro 

Rev.  John  G.  Meems,  D.D. 
Caixa  763 

Rev.  Solomao  Ferraz 
Rev.  Franklin  T.  Osborn 

Bio  dos  Sinos 

Rev.  I.  O.  Machado 

Bio  Grande 

Rev.  J.  B.  Leao 

Sao  Gabriel 

Rev.  Julio  A.  Coelho 

Santa  Helena  and  Florida 

Rev.  H.  Zschornack 

Sao  Jose  de  Norte 

Rev.  G.  U.  Krischke 

Santa  Maria 

Rev.  J.  B.  B.  da  Cunha 
Rev.  I.  O.  Machado 

Viamao 

Rev.  A.  V.  Cabral 

Santos 

Rev.  J.  Orton 


STATISTICS 


Clergy:  American,  6;  Brazilian,  15 21 

Stations  51 

Communicants  1,754 

Boarding  and  Day  Schools- 2 

Sunday  Schools  30 


Copies  of  this  leaflet  may  be  obtained  from  the  Literature  office. 
Church  Missions  House,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York,  by 
asking  for  No.  525.  Price  five  cents. 


1 Ed.  3-21.  5M.  K.  PI. 


